1,236 Comments for York Street Jail

Outside recreation was held in this yard minus all the vegetation. Basketball, weights, handball, and sometimes softball was also played. Guards sat on benches on both ends of the yard to supervise and respond to fights. One officer was in the tower with a shotgun and another walked the railroad tracks outside the back wall with a shotgun whenever yard was held.

This was what was called the "barbershop". It was opened in the morning to allow for clean up and shaving.

Used as dining hall for meals and recreation hall for evenings and weekends. Sat down there for years monitoring 140+ inmates at any one time with about 5 officers. Two TVs in the kitchen plus a couple of pay phones mounted on wall. Very noisy and when trouble started you had to act quickly before it got totally out of hand.

This was the North Gate, you passed through two sets of these doors and you were on York St. The Yard Master was responsible for this door. Some deliveries were made to the kitchen and supply areas through here.

This was the yard entrance to the kitchen, garbage barrels keep there until removed by yard crews. Always a popular stop for rodents.

This was the West Block, higher security inmates were housed in this block. If my memory is correct I believe there were 56 cells in this block, 7 cells per tier x 8 tiers.

These bars allowed you to walk the tier and unlock each door with a key, the cell doors could not be opened until you went to the end of the tier and pulled this bar. This was the way the inmates in the blocks were let out for feeding, recreation, etc.

This picture is taken standing on the landing in the main block looking out into the rotunda. The door on the far wall is the front cage that leads out to York St.
Thanks for the great pictures, a true piece of history is being destroyed.

Very loud and the smell was very bad in the hot weather on the upper tiers.

This is a shot of the "Rotunda" where the visits occurred and some administrative offices were located. It was also used as the booking area for years until a new intake area was built in the basement below this area.

Worked there for 15 years-quite a place!!

that chimney was actually bending. I remember thinking of Dr. Suess when I was there.

I've been up there. Its a very long fall and unnerving walking that tier.

This lever actually works. I was doing work in the jail last yr prior to the demolition.

I worked there for years. During outside recreation, one CO w/shotgun would be posted inside this "tower." After rec was over, the shotgun shells would be dropped from the hole in the floor to the yard below and taken to the safe in the main rotunda.